Rail-anchor



'c. B. MOORE. RAIL ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19, 1920- 1,339,123. I Patented May 4, 1920.

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CHARLES B. MOORE, 0F EVANSTON, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-ANCHOR.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4., 1920.

Application filed January 19, 1920. Serial No. 352,475.

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. MooRE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Evanston, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Anchors, of which I do'declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawlng, forming a part of this specificatlon.

Figure 1 is a plan view showing my rail anchor as applied in use to the railway rail, portions of the cross-ties being shown. Fig. 2 is a View in vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view inside elevat on of the anchor, a portionof the railbeing shown as engaged thereby. Fig; is'a plan view of the anchor. Fig. 5 is a view in elevation. Fig. 6 is a plan view of-the anchor on the rail base flange, showing a modified we of holding the anchor in place.

he present invention has relation more particularly to that class of rail anchors adapted to be welded to the base of the rail to which the anchor is applied, although features of the invention may be used in connection with other types of rail anchors. The invention consists in the features of novelty hereinafter described, illustrated 1n the accompanying drawing, and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

A designates the railway rail and B the cross-ties whereon the rail A rests.

As shown, my improved anchor is formed of a single piece of metal and is preferably made as a dropforging. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the anchor comprises a jaw-like upper portion having a recess 10 adapted to receive the base flange a of the rail A, and having its lower portion formed as an abutment to engage one of the cross-ties B. The upper part of the rail anchor that extends over the upper face of the base flange a of the rail is shown as provided with lateral extensions 11 and 12, and when this upper part of the anchor is thus extended in both directions, itis 'ven'a T-shape configuration. The parts 11 and '12 have their lower faces 13 in clined to correspond to the inclination of the upper face of the rail base flange a and the metal between the portions 11 and 12 has its lower face, similarly inclined to bear upon the base flange. The narrow part 14 of the upper portion of the anchor is adapted to extend some distance in from the edge of the rail base flange a, so that when the anchoris in position for use the outer edges 15 of the parts 11 and 12 will terminate at some distance from the outer edge of the rail base flange a, for areason to be pres ently stated. Preferably, the top surfaces of the lateral extended parts 11 and 12 are curved or inclined, as at 16 and 17.

The part 18 of the rail anchor that engages the bottom of the rail base flange a is flat upon its upper surface and the recess 10 is of such depth that when the anchor is initially applied to the base flange of the rail the outer portion of the flange a will not fill'the recess 10. Making therecess 1O deeper than is necessary for the initial application of the anchor is advantageous not only in that it permits of the application of the anchorto rails of varying dimensions, but is advantageous also because when the anchor is to be revised, the depth of the recess 10 will allow for the snug engagement of the upper portion of the anchor with the rail base flange, notwithstanding the slight expansion of the jaw of the anchor incident to its first use.

The part 19 of the anchor that extends around the outer portion of the rail base flange a is preferably of uniform dimension, and the inner, end of this part 19 is turned downwardly to form an abutment or part 20 adapted to enga e one of the cross-ties B of the track. The lower portion of the abutment 20 is tapered downwardly-at least upon the side that is to engage the cross-tie-and preferably both sides of the abutment are tapered as at 21 for obvious reasons. In order to give a wider bearing to the abutment 20, its lower portion is spread or expanded at right angles to the rail A, this expanded portion of the anchor 22 being readily formed by the dis placement of the metal incident to tapering the lower portion of the anchor.

In practice, my improved anchor will be applied to the rail base flange, as shown, by forcing the upper jaw-like portion of the anchor over the rail base flange a, after which the anchor may be welded, as at 23, to the rail base at the end of one or at the ends of both of the portions 11 and 12 by any of the well-known welding processes,

such, for example, as the oxy-acetylene processr While ordinarily it would be found suflicient to weld the anchor at a single point, and preferably at the endof the extension that projects over the, adjacent cross-tie, still the welding may be effected, if desired, at other points.

It has heretofore been proposed to weld nicking the outer edge of the rail base flange, thereby weakening the rail and endangering its breakage at such point. So, also, with certain forms of prior welded on anchors, it has been found t'hat'in the act of removing them from the rails, there is a possibility of breaking the edge portion of the rail base because of the welding of the anchor at such point. My present invention provides a rail anchor having a part welded to the upper face of the rail base flange at a distance from the outer edge of such flange, so that in the operation of Welding on the anchor the danger of burning or nicking the edge of the rail base flange is avoided. So, also, when my improved anchor is to be removed from the rail to which it has been welded, as above described, this can be effected by heating the welded joint without materially weakening the edge portion of the rail base flange, or the anchor can even be mechanically displaced without danger of breaking or cracking the base flange of the rail.

When my invention is applied in its preferred embodiment, as for example, in a rail anchor having a jaw-like upper portion to engage the rail base flange there is a shackle action of the anchor in gripping the rail base,that is to say, as the rail tendsto creep and carry with it the an,- chor, the fcreeping motion is resisted by the engagement of the abutment 20 of the anchor with the cross-tie B, and this tends to twist the anchor and cause its upper jaw member to grip the rail. With such an anchor, the greater portionof the strain in resisting the tendency of the anchor to creep is not thrown upon the welded joint of the anchor, but is mechanically resisted by the shackle action of the anchor, the function of the welded joint being largely to produce and maintain this shackle action. Inasmuch as the upper member of the anchor jaw is broadenedthat is to say, has the members 11 and 12 (one or both) extending laterally from the center line of the j awit' is obvious that the pressure upon the jaw incident to the tendency of the rail to creep exerts a less pressure tending to open the aw than would be the case if said upper member of the jaw were not broadened; yet the pressure necessary chors are initially applied, particularly where the rails are laid upon ordinary wooden cross-ties, the corners of which are more or less rounded, the strain incident to the creeping of the rails is thrown largely upon the lower part of the abutments of" such anchors, thereby exerting an excessive and unnecessary leverage or strain upon the upper portlon of the anchors. that engages the base flanges of the rails. By inclining or'taperingthe lower portion of the abutment of my improved anchor, the'resistance of the cross-tie to any creeping action of the, rail andanchor is thrown mainly upon the upper part of the abutment, andian unnecessary twisting strain upon the anchor jaw is avoided. Even when my improved anchor is arranged against a wooden crosstie having a flat, vertical face, the initialstrain upon the anchor will cause the upper part of the abutment to embed itself'slightly in the tie andwhen this occurs the bearing surface of the abutment will soon be brought into engagement with the tie from top to bottom of the-abutment.

Although I have described what I regard as the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that the-precise details of construction above set forth may be varied without departure from-the spirit of the invention and that features of the invention may be employed without its adoption as an entirety.

While in the preferred'form' of'my; invention, the anchor is formed with an abut-- ment that extends to a considerable distance below the base flange of the rail, 1" do not Wish the invention-to be limited to such type ofabutment, since any body of metal extending below the base of the, rail flange and adapted to engage with the tie to resist the tendency of'the anchor to creep with the rail, will serve thepurpose of an abutment. So, also, the feature of forming the upper member ofjthe gripping jaw'ofa rail anchor with a broadened portion to bear upon the top face of the rail base and lessen the tendency of the anchor jaw to be forced open, may beemployed without other distinguishing features of theinventionl In Fig. 6 of the drawing, I" haveshown my improved anchor as held upon the base flange of the rail by posts or projections of metal 25 welded or otherwise secured to the upper face of the rail flange after the anchor is in place, and with this arrangement it is not essential that the anchor should be directly welded to the rail. The space between the portions 11 and 12 of the anchor jaw and the outer edge of the rail base flange enables the post or posts 25 to be located away from the edge of the rail base flange, so that any possibility of the flange being weakened thereby is avoided.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A rail anchor having a part to engage a rail base flange and an abutment to engage the cross tie, the bearing face of said abutment being inclined from the vertical toward the opposite end of the anchor and that part of said bearing face immediately beneath the aw being adapted to first contact with the tie.

2. A rail anchor having a jaw to engage a rail base flange and an abutment to engage a cross tie, said abutment having a vertically disposed bearing face immediately beneath the jaw and having beneath said vertical bearing face a downwardly tapering bearing face inclined toward the opposite end of the anchor.

3. A rail anchor having a part to engage a rail base flange and an abutment to engage a cross tie, said abutment being formed on opposite sides with bearing faces, the lower tion of both of said bearing faces being downwardly inclined toward the vertical center of said abutment.

4:. A rail anchor having a part to engage a rail base flange and an abutment to engage a cross tie, said abutment having bearing faces upon its opposite sides, the lower portion of said abutment being expanded in a plane transverse to the rail engaging part of the anchor and having one of its sides tapered downwardly to form a bearing face.

5. A rail anchor having its upper portion formed with a jaw adapted to engage a rail base flange and having a central depending abutment beneath said jaw, said abutment having its lower portion formed with downwardly and oppositely tapered bearing faces.

6. A rail anchor having a part to engage a rail base flange, and an abutment to engage grip a rail base flange upon its top and bottom, the upper gripping member of said jaw Being broader than its lower gripping mem- 8. A rail anchor having a jaw adapted to grip a rail base flange upon its top and bottom, the upper portion of said jaw being provided at its inner end with a portion broader than the part of the jaw that will pass over the edge of the rail base flange, said broader portion being adapted, when in position for use, to terminate at a distance from the edge of the base flange of the rail.

9. The combination with a railway rail, of'a rail anchor formed of a single piece and comprising a single jaw adapted to be slipped laterally into engagement with one of the rail base flanges, the inner end of the upper member of said jaw bearing upon the upper face of the rail base flange at a distance from its edge and held in position on the rail base flange by metal welded to said flange at opposite sides of said jaw and at a distance from the edge of said flange.

10. A rail anchor having an abutment and a part projecting upwardly therefrom and adapted to extend over the top of the rail base flange, said part having a lateral extension adapted to contact with the rail base flange, but terminating at a distance from the outer edge of said flange.

11. A rail anchor having an abutment and a part projecting upwardly from said abut ment and adapted to extend over the top of the rail base flange, said part having oppositely disposed lateral extensions adapted to contact with the upper surface of the rail base flange, saidextensions terminating at a distance from the outer edge of said rail base flange.

12. A rail anchor having an abutment and a jaw adapted to grip a rail base flange upon its top and bottom, the upper member of said jaw being provided with a lateral extension narrower than the length of said upper jaw, so as to terminate at a distance from the edge of the rail base flange when the anchor is in position for use.

.13. A rail anchor formed of a single piece and comprising an upper jaw adapted to grip the top and bottom of a rail base flange, the inner end of the upper member of said jaw having a lateral extension and the lower member of said jaw having a depending abutment expanded to engage the face of a cross-tie.

CHARLES B. MOORE. 

